


and that's how they met!

by jimatoshi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22308490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jimatoshi/pseuds/jimatoshi
Summary: In which Ikejiri likes to watch volleyball and Koganegawa likes to watch Ikejiri watch volleyball. Somehow this leads to a date.
Relationships: Ikejiri Hayato/Koganegawa Kanji
Kudos: 7





	and that's how they met!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sever77](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sever77/gifts).



> I wrote this like a year ago, decided it needed editing and then didn't edit it for a year. I'm still not the most happy with it, but I figured it'd probably be another year before I got around to editing it again, so I decided to go ahead and post.
> 
> This work is dedicated to @sever77 who wrote the first KoganeJiri fic. The title of this fic is most definitely intended as a response to theirs. Thank you for introducing us to this wonderful pair! m(__)m
> 
> Also dedicated to @golden_kaori, my partner in crime for talking about the Yeehaw Boys, and who helped proofread this fic, also like a year ago. 
> 
> Horizontal lines indicate perspective changes. There are a lot of perspective changes. Whoops.

After their loss to Karasuno at his final Interhigh, Ikejiri quit volleyball. It wasn’t a surprise. He wished he had been better, worked harder, played longer, but he couldn’t justify spending the last few months before his graduation dedicated to volleyball. Not to his parents or his teachers, and least of all to himself. Better to let the second years take over and support them from the shadows.

_Knowing me, I’d probably end up half-assing everything again anyways._

And when he goes to watch Spring High and Tokonami loses against Dateko for their first round… well, once again, it’s not a surprise. What is a surprise, though, is some new faces on Dateko’s team. Or rather, _one_ new face. Maybe Ikejiri was better suited for watching volleyball than playing. He kept up with the rosters of all the major schools, and while there was usually some shuffling with third years retiring, it was pretty rare to see someone entirely new in the middle of the year, especially as a starter. Ikejiri found himself caught between admiration for the new kid’s drive and frustration at how someone so obviously new to the sport could do so well. The only thing he was certain of was his disdain for that _hair_. Getting a bleached patch was one thing, but leaving a natural patch in a swarm of bleached hair? And how did he even get it to stay up like that?? What does it look like when it’s down… the mental image Ikejiri conjured was somehow even worse than the current styled monstrosity, so he let it go. _It’s a shame though… if it weren’t for that, he might be pretty cute._

* * *

Koganegawa doesn’t usually pay much mind to the audience, and well… okay, technically, this guy wasn’t in the audience, but he wasn’t on a team, so same idea. They’d just won their first match (and quite cleanly, though you wouldn’t know based on the way Futakuchi was already starting to lecture him), and this guy was talking to their opponents, maybe consoling them, probably not lecturing them because he looks nicer than Futakuchi. Both personality wise and just, uh. In general. He was smaller, had this demeanor about him which was both strong and timid, and he had _freckles_.

Koganegawa wanted to give him a hug.

So, he said this.

Apparently, that was not the correct answer to whatever Futakuchi had just asked him, and Koganegawa groaned as he resigned himself to even more lecturing.

* * *

Even though his team lost, Ikejiri continued to go to the Spring High matches… it was still volleyball, plus he had to keep an eye on Karasuno for Sawamura. And even though he wasn’t on the team anymore, he’d retained his habit of keeping an eye on the teams that beat them, so he spent a good bit of time watching Dateko as well. Their blocking was truly a force to be reckoned with, but their setter… he still couldn’t get a handle on him.

* * *

Ok so this time Koganegawa _was_ paying attention to the audience, but it’s different if it’s someone you know up there! Or in this case, someone you’ve seen before. Once. From a distance. Anyways, Pretty Boy wasn’t at all of their matches, but he was at a good number of them. He swears he saw him glaring at him once, but he’s not entirely sure. In any case, ever since the “I want to hug him” incident, Futakuchi hasn’t shut the hell up about him. Which has led to the current situation.

See, Futakuchi is the one who started calling him Pretty Boy, since they don’t know his name and anyone with eyes can see that the boy is, in fact, pretty. This is fine.

Onagawa, in his infinite wisdom, had started calling the boy Lover Boy. This was less fine. Koganegawa has yet to decide whether the initial use of this phrase was accidental or specifically to spite him, but Kogane’s overly dramatic reaction solidified its role as a popular nickname for the boy to pretty much the entire team.

Except for Sakunami. Poor, sweet Sakunami. The only one on the team Koganegawa was certain would never do anything to intentionally hurt him (he was like 97% sure with Aone, but still…). Sakunami had, somehow, missed the entire first part of the conversation and jumped right in on Kogane being teased over some “Lover Boy.” He saw the kid in question, agreed that he was pretty cute, was happy for Kogane, and moved on with his life. No need to say or clarify anything, and no harm done!

Until, 3 days later, when Dateko just so happens to be getting a quick between-matches lunch from the same place as a certain pretty boy. Kogane groans, Futakuchi snickers, and Sakunami says, “Hey Kogane, it’s your boyfriend!” and then, without missing a beat, pats said pretty boy on the back and says, “Hey, Kogane’s boyfriend! Wanna come eat with us?”

* * *

Ikejiri is really just trying to get some food, maybe use the bathroom, and then go back and watch some more volleyball. So when the entire team of Dateko approaches him, he is, if only momentarily, scared shitless. His first thought, aside from pure fear, is thank god it was the short one that patted him, because if it had been any of the others, he might have actually pissed himself in fear. After 2.5 seconds to process what had actually been said to him, he was still left with confusion. Boyfriend?? Kogane?? He figured Kogane was Koganegawa, based on his presence and also the strangled face he was making, but the only reason he even knew that face in the first place was from memorizing the rosters. There’s no way someone like him would know a retired member from a team they beat in the first round, and they’d never met anywhere else so… why was Ikejiri being accused of being his boyfriend??

Before Ikejiri could properly make a response, the entire team of Dateko was laughing at him. Well, aside from Sakunami who looked equally confused, Aone who was reliably neutral, and Kogane, who looked like he might pass out at any given moment. In any case, it did not feel nice to have a whole bunch of 180+ cm guys surrounding him and laughing…

“Oh my god Saku, they’re not actually dating.”

“What?? Then why do you keep all calling him ‘Lover Boy’?”

Ikejiri flushes bright red as Kogane begins to sputter.

“It’s a joke, Saku, Kogane just has a crush on the guy.”

Kogane finally seems to regain his composure, opens his mouth to deny the crush, but then promptly realizes there is nothing to deny and closes his mouth in defeat.

Ikejiri, who has been silent up to this point, finally decides to say something.

“Where are we sitting?”

Shit. That’s not what he was trying to say.

* * *

Kogane is trying very, very hard not to freak out. This means he is mostly sitting still and focusing on eating. And listening. Pretty Boy’s name is Ikejiri Hayato, he’s a third year from Tokonami, and _he agreed to eat with them. After knowing Kogane has a crush on him._

Kogane’s not sure exactly what that means, but he’s hoping it’s a good thing. His teammates seem to be hopeful as well, forcing the two of them to sit next to each other. Futakuchi winks occasionally at either Kogane or Ikejiri. Kogane doesn’t know what that means either, but he wishes he would stop. The rest of the team is acting relatively normal except for Sakunami, who is oddly quiet, probably out of guilt.

Someone asks Ikejiri what he plans on doing after high school and he starts to clam up, so Kogane tells them to stop asking about boring things and talk about what matters. He asks Ikejiri what his favorite animal is. This was the correct question. Ikejiri’s eyes sparkle as he pulls out his phone.

“This is my favorite animal, she’s a corgi and her name is Fish.”

Onagawa laughs at hearing the name, but Kogane is completely enthralled in the picture.

“She’s perfect! Do you have any more pics?”

As Ikejiri nods excitedly, Koganegawa thinks this is the prettiest he’s ever seen him look. He’s quickly distracted by another picture of Fish, this time wearing a _tutu_. He has to admit, she is cuter than Ikejiri, but not by much… Ikejiri continues to scroll through the pics and reaches one with him and Fish rolling around on the ground and… maybe it’s a tie.

* * *

For as nervous he’d been at the beginning of the meal, lunch was actually going pretty well for Ikejiri. After some decent conversation and very many dog pictures, he was pretty sure now that they weren’t going to beat him up. Kogane had been quiet at the beginning, but seemed to be interested in Fish, so Ikejiri had maybe spent a bit more time talking about her than planned… Maybe.

However, that did not mean Ikejiri was prepared for when the rest of the team dipped out, leaving him alone with Kogane. Aside from the technicalities of how like five 180 cm guys (and Sakunami) had managed to escape unnoticed, there was also the fact that he was alone. With the sorda cute, definitely confusing setter of Dateko. Who had a crush on him. While the feelings might not be mutual, they also weren’t exactly not mutual, and Ikejiri didn’t want to let him down, but he also didn’t want to get his hopes up. So instead, he broods.

Luckily, he didn’t have to start the conversation himself. With the rest of the team absent to tease him about it, Kogane seems to have gained some confidence, which he immediately pushes into a love-filled… apology.

As Kogane stumbles over himself to apologize for kidnapping him, and scaring him, and ruining his lunch, and thinking he’s cute, and accidentally convincing someone they’re dating even though he swears he has no idea why he thinks that, Ikejiri’s brooding is replaced with laugher. Kogane stops mid-sentence and stares. Even though he’s uncertain, and can’t find the right way to say it, Ikejiri has to say something to stop Kogane’s mind from self-destructing.

“I really didn’t mind at all… well, some warning before being kidnapped would have been nice, but it was better than eating alone. But maybe next time, don’t bring your whole team along with you.”

Kogane perked up as soon as he heard the “next time,” and the sparkle in his eyes and stupid little grin on his face simultaneously made Ikejiri glad he had caused it and incredibly nervous that he wasn’t taking this seriously enough, and that he might someday make it go away… in the meantime, he’d said it, so he might as well go with it.

The pair exchanged phone numbers as they got up to leave. They paid for their food, and started to walk back to the stadium, not slow enough where it was noticeable, but definitely slower than usual. They continued to chat, about school, about volleyball, and of course, about Fish. As they walk, Ikejiri has 2 realizations:

  1. Kogane is really tall.
  2. Ikejiri wants to hug him.



Ikejiri isn’t a dumbass, so he manages to keep his observations to himself… for now. Instead what he says is,

“What made you decide to style your hair like that?”


End file.
